Apple gets new dev tools with Buddybuild acquisition

The redesigned App Store is raking in more money than ever. Photo: Apple

Apple is adding another big tool for developers to its arsenal thanks to the acquisition of Vancouver-based startup Buddybuild.

The small 40-person company created a mobile iteration platform that allows devs to streamline their workflow and push app updates out through GitHub, GitLab and the like. Now Apple plans to take those tools and integrate them natively into Xcode.

Buddybuild confirmed the acquisition today in a blog post on the company’s website. Details of the total amount Apple paid for the company weren’t released, but Buddybuild’s team will remain in Canada for now.

“We’re excited to share that the buddybuild team has joined the Xcode engineering group at Apple to build amazing developer tools for the entire iOS community.

We’ve always been proud to be a Canadian company, so we’re also pleased that we will be staying right here in Vancouver — a hotbed of developer and engineering talent.”

Buddybuild was founded by former Amazon employees Dennis Pilarinos and Christopher Scott in 2015. It has raised about $8.8 million in capital during its exsitence, making it a super-cheap acquisition for Apple.

Apple and Buddybuild haven’t set any specific date for when Buddybuild’s tools will be integrated into Xcode. Hopefully it can get done in time for WWDC 2018.